Workers Hold May Day Fiesta Today, Good People Avoid Senayan Area

Illustration/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The police have asked the public to avoid the Gelora Bung Karno area, Senayan. The reason is that today, Saturday, May 15, the Labor Party together with other labor unions held the May Day Fiesta.

The activity is expected to continue on Saturday around 09.00-15.00 WIB. So, people who will be active around the location of the action are expected to understand if there is a traffic density.

"If we can avoid the GBK area because it is feared that there will be many activities there, then the number of vehicles prepared by the participants, we hope that the community will avoid it," said Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya Kombes Endra Zulpan, quoted by Antara, Friday, May 13.

Meanwhile, to secure this activity, the Polda Metro Jaya together with the TNI and the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta have prepared 5,260 joint personnel. Meanwhile, the May Day Fiesta will be attended by 60,000 people consisting of workers' elements.

At least, there are a number of areas that are estimated to be affected by this May Day Fiesta activity. These include Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto starting from Simpang Semanggi to the front of the DPR/MPR Building, then the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) area, Senayan, Youth Gate, Jalan Asia Afrika, Jalan Jenderal Sudirman starting from the Senayan Roundabout to Simpang Semanggi.

Meanwhile, in his written statement, Labor Party President Said Iqbal said that the Labor Party and the Indonesian Labor Movement would carry out two activities today. First, at around 10.00 WIB – 12.00 WIB, a demonstration was held at the DPR RI.

Second, at 13.00 WIB – 17.30 WIB in the form of May Day Fiesta at GBK. "This activity is a series of May Day commemorations. On May 1 we also held an action at the KPU which was followed by the May Day Fiesta at the Usmar Ismail Film Building," Said Iqbal said in a written statement.

He said this activity would be attended by mass workers from DKI, West Java, and Banten. In addition, similar activities were also held simultaneously in various areas such as Surabaya, Semarang, Medan, Batam, and other industrial cities such as Yogyakarta, Aceh, Padang, Bengkulu, Riau, Lampung, Sulawesi, Makassar, Gorontalo, Morowali, Kendari, Bitung, Banjarmasin. , Pontianak, Samarinda, Maluku, Mataram, Ternate, and others.

Returning to the May Day Fiesta at GBK, Said Iqbal said that later international trade unions and labor parties from other countries would also attend and give speeches. Of the international trade unions are ITUC Secretary General Sharan Burraw, ITUC Secretary General AP Shoya Yoshida, DGB President, Brazilian Trade Union Confederation, Australian Trade Union Confederation, Finnish Trade Union Confederation.

"Meanwhile, the Labor Party from other countries are the Labor Party of Brazil, Australia and Finland," he said.

In this momentum, the Labor Party and the Indonesian Labor Movement will voice 18 demands, as follows:

1. Reject the Omnibus law on the Job Creation Law; 2. Lower prices for basic commodities (cooking oil, meat, flour, eggs, etc.), fuel and gas; 3. Pass the PPRT Bill, reject the revision of the PPP Law, reject the revision of the SP/SB Law; 4. Reject low wages; 5. Remove outsourcing;6. Reject VAT tax increase; 7. Validate the RPP for the Protection of ABK and Migrant Workers; 8. Refuse to reduce PBI Health Insurance participants; 9. Realize food sovereignty and agrarian reform; 10. Stop criminalizing farmers; 11. Low tuition fees and free 15 years of compulsory education; 12. Appoint teachers and honorary staff to become civil servants; 13. Empowerment of the informal sector;14. Ratification of ILO Conversion No. 190 on the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work;15. Ojol drivers are workers, not partners whose work relationships are not clear;16. Carry out the elections on February 14, 2024 in a fair manner and without money politics; 17. Fair redistribution of wealth by adding social security programs (food security, housing, unemployment, education, and clean water); and18. There should be no hungry people in a rich country.